‘Covid-19 vaccine tourism’: Is it tourism leverage?

After more than a year of being “locked up” because of Covid-19, the world is witnessing the flowering of the “Covid-19 vaccine tour” tour. Is this type really the key to reviving tourism or is it bringing a lot of unpredictable potential?

The trend of “Covid-19 vaccine tourism” is flourishing in many places (Photo: FORBES) After more than a year of being “locked up” because of Covid-19, the world is witnessing the blooming of the “Covid-19 vaccine tour”. Is this type really the key to reviving tourism or is it bringing a lot of unpredictable potential? New trend Since December last year, Mr. Enno Lenze, a German businessman and museum director, has been looking for many sources to get an early Covid-19 vaccine but wants to go abroad. Finally, the opportunity came to him. A tour company in Norway called World Visitor provided a travel package to Moscow, Russia to get the Sputnik V vaccine. Brother Lenze and 50 other Germans took the opportunity and went to Russia to get the Sputnik V shot. the first one in early April. This month, he and the others will return to Russia for a second injection. Many people seek out the Sputnik V vaccine by traveling to Moscow (Image: AP) “I have visited many places. I’m interested in space travel and I want to see Soviet-era spaceships,” Lenze told National Geographic. World Visitor also offers a three-week “wellness” tour package where guests can relax at a spa in Turkey between Covid-19 shots. Albert Sigl, co-owner of World Visitor, said that he has sold Covid-19 vaccination tours to about 600 customers from Germany and Switzerland, two European countries that currently have flights to Russia. According to Mr. Sigl, the company will continue to open Covid-19 vaccine tours to other countries when they open. In Austria, tour operator Impfreisen.at is also offering unconditional reservations for a series of holiday packages with “guaranteed rights to a Covid-19 vaccine”. For those who can’t afford it, Impfreisen even offers free rides to 1 in 10 people who book the cheapest package, if they can prove it’s financially viable. Last week, The Wall Street Journal of the United States reported that it did not take until New York City announced a plan to provide Covid-19 vaccination services to foreign tourists, the tourism industry from Texas to Florida already Heats up as tens of thousands of tourists from Mexico and many other countries come to these states to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Some states in the US, including Texas, do not require vaccination applicants to present proof of residency status. According to the AP news agency, wealthy tourists, including politicians, TV stars, leaders of companies and famous players in Latin America, have come to the US to get vaccinated against Covid-19. People stand in line to check in at Silvio Pettirosso Airport (Paraguay) to Miami. Many Latin Americans who come to the US for vaccinations have friends or relatives who live in the US and can help them get vaccinated against Covid-19. (Photo: AP) Most Covid-19 vaccination tours are from Mexico to Texas. Mexican airlines have opened more routes to South Texas and increased frequency of flights. Flights to Houston, Dallas and San Antonio have also been booked weeks in advance and fares are also increasing significantly. In addition, the charter flight service to the US for vaccination is also flourishing in Mexico. Cindy Mijares, a 31-year-old jewelry designer from Monterrey, Mexico, said that like many of her friends, she booked a Covid-19 vaccination at a pharmacy in Texas. The Wall Street Journal, citing preliminary data from Mexico City International Airport, showed that in April, about 207,000 passengers departed for the United States, compared with 177,000 in March and 95,000 in February. in April were Houston and Dallas, with 41,000 and 26,000 passengers, followed by Los Angeles, Miami and San Antonio. People get a shot of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine at a mobile vaccination center in South Beach, Florida (Image: TheBangkokPost) The wave of Covid-19 vaccine tourism also spread to Asia. Recently, many Thai tour companies have offered Covid-19 vaccination tours to the US and Russia. A Bangkok-based tour operator, Unithai Trip, offers packages ranging from 75,000 baht to 200,000 baht ($2,400 to $6,400) for tours to San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, at extra prices. depending on the time interval between injections of each Covid-19 vaccine. Unithai Trip CEO Rachphol Yamsaeng told Reuters: “Johnson & Johnson only needs one shot, but 90% of travelers require Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine,” so it takes about 20 days between the first dose. first and second dose. Meanwhile, another tour operator, My Journey Travel, is offering a 10-day trip to San Francisco for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine. This company information, in just three days of opening the tour, they received hundreds of calls to ask about this tour. The US is not the only destination to get a Covid-19 vaccine for Thais. Udachi, a travel agency, has offered a 23-day tour called “Vaccine Vacation in Russia” to get the Sputnik V vaccine for up to 210,000 baht ($6,700). Travel leverage? After more than a year of “freezing” because of Covid-19, some countries with tourism as the mainstay of the economy are looking to increase tourist numbers by offering travel packages with Covid-19 vaccinations. “Paradise” Maldives has pursued a “3-V” strategy to encourage tourists to “visit, vaccinate and relax” (Vist, Vaccine and Vacation). Maldivian tourism minister Abdulla Mausoom told CNBC this would provide visitors with “more convenience” when on vacation. Mr. Mausoom said that while only about 13% of Maldivians are fully vaccinated, about 90% of frontline tourism workers are vaccinated. This figure points to the importance of the tourism sector in the economic recovery prospects of the Indian Ocean “resort paradise”. According to I. Glenn Cohen, a professor at Harvard Law School and director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, traveling for medical treatment is not a trend. new save. The thriving medical tourism market has been around for many years. In the case of the Covid-19 vaccine, as long as the risk groups are protected first, vaccine-abundant countries can use them to restart tourism, but provided this is done carefully. kidney. “What matters is where the net benefits go,” he said. This benefit should benefit the poorest people in the community, not just the rich.” Although two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine may make countries retain tourists longer because it takes time for the body to produce an immune response, the following travel activities should not be rushed. vaccination. Passengers disembark from a plane at Velana International Airport in Male, Maldives, July 15, 2020. Maldives is currently encouraging foreign tourists to return with a “3-V” strategy that combines visits, vaccinations and resorts. (Photo: GETTY IMAGE) Professor Cohen said he was a bit concerned and advised tourists who had just been vaccinated against going to markets or shopping malls right away. On May 6, New York began promoting itself as a tourist destination for those seeking a Covid-19 vaccine. Previously, from April, the Florida state government announced that it was canceling the requirement to be a resident of the state to receive the vaccine after the first wave of vaccination tourism. In Alaska, in an effort to boost local tourism, Governor Mike Dunleavy said visitors can get a free Covid-19 vaccine at the state’s main airports starting June 1. Mexican travel companies, already reeling from the pandemic, quickly recognized the opportunity. Eduardo Paniagua, head of the Mexican tourism industry association, said that in March and April, travel agencies sold tours to the US to 170,000 people, most of whom traveled for injections. Covid-19 vaccine. The US-Mexico border remains closed to non-essential land travel, but travelers can still travel by air. More than just coming to get vaccinated, travel to the US has a direct impact on local economies. Vaccinated tourists spend money on airline tickets, hotel stays and spend more time shopping and eating. These special tours are helping revive the economies of places like Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, which have been hit hard by a year of border closures. Saul Sanchez, co-owner of Carats in McAllen, Texas, helps a customer try on jewelry. The business of the stores declined when the border closed and was buoyed by the return of Mexican tourists (Image: WSJ) Before the pandemic, Mexican tourists to McAllen, Texas typically contributed about $1 billion of the country’s $3.5 billion average annual retail sales, said Steve Ahlenius, president of the local chamber of commerce. city. Although locals have the lowest income in the US, the area is a top destination for wealthy Mexican tourists. Is it legal? At a glance, it can be seen that Covid-19 vaccination tourism is an attractive form to restore the tourism industry. But many people are also questioning the legitimacy of this type of tourism, the risks to tourists when participating in vaccination tourism and even its ethics. At this time, no formal arrangements have been made to ensure that foreign tourists are vaccinated against Covid-19 in the country they travel to. So tourists getting vaccinated could be frustrated and risk losing money. Reuters quoted Thailand’s Tourism Ministry on May 5 warning, travelers need to carefully check vaccination travel packages because the entry regulations in each state in the US are different. Euronews reported last month that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the government would consider a vaccination tourism program, but that Russian citizens were an “absolute priority”. Meanwhile, information on social media about vaccination tours for tourists from Turkey to Serbia has been denied by the Turkish Ambassador to Belgrade and the Serbian Embassy in Ankara. They confirmed that only Turks with a residence permit in Serbia are allowed to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Some countries have clearly announced that they do not welcome tourists to receive Covid-19 vaccines. In the UK, for example, the Covid-19 vaccine can only be administered through the public health system and must wait until a doctor’s appointment is received. At the appointment, the vaccinated person needs to confirm personal information, such as home address. It is possible that many other countries have adopted similar measures. In some respects, Covid-19 vaccine tourism can contribute towards the common goal of ending the Covid-19 pandemic soon. So far, the WHO has urged Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers to keep their commitments to equitable distribution of vaccines. But with some richer countries starting to monopolize the stockpiling of excess vaccines to make a profit, Covid-19 vaccine tourism will only prolong the wait for access to Covid-19 vaccines in many parts of the world. , especially in poor countries, and exacerbated the imbalance of supply and demand for Covid-19 vaccines. These consequences will likely slow down efforts to end the Covid-19 pandemic, which WHO insists can only be achieved by global cooperation in vaccine sharing.